I'm very pleased that The Amazing Race finished up tonight the only "right" way, with Uchenna and Joyce winning. Rob (of Team Robbinambuh) and Kelly (of Team Ron and Spoiled Bitch) stayed smug, self-centered, and unlikeable to the very finish, leaving U&J as the only team I would have been truly happy to see win. Still, anyone but Rob and Amber would have done in a pinch.
This is the first time I've ever watched The Amazing Race, and I've enjoyed it a lot. Still, if Rob and Amber had walked away the winners, I honestly don't know if I could have come back for another round next fall. I know it wouldn't exactly have been fair of me to hold it against the game if the team I hated had pulled it out -- I'm just saying, it would have ruined my past enjoyment of it that much.
Anyway, all's well that ends well. And U&J pulled it off after having all their money taken away too! Begging for two days and even going the extra mile not to stiff their cab driver at the end. That's the kind of skill and style I'm quite sure neither of the other teams could have shown in the same situation. They earned it. Well done. I'm happy.
8 comments:
it's rigged!!!!
Was there really any other way for it to end? I mean they were sooooo far behind, down on their luck, etc. and they came back to win it. And why did it take so long for Rob and Amber to show up when they were right there.
They frequently edit the show to make things look like more of a "close call" than the actually are. My guess here is that Rob and Amber were looking for "the king of the Havanas" for a lot longer than we were led to believe. The editing would have us believe they were pulling up to the location of the finish line as Uchenna and Hoyce were still begging for the rest of their cab fare. In reality, they were probably several minutes behind.
My wife just called to update me on the final three teams' appearances on The Early Show this morning. Uchenna and Joyce were offered one free round of invitro, but they are committed to adopting should the invitro fail.
Rob and Amber were thanked by Phil for bringing more fans to his show and for being tough competitors. They said they would have won had U&J not squeezed into their 10:00AM flight despite their confusion in Little Havana, and I agree.
Ron and Kelly are just friends. Kelly hadn't realized they had fought so much and so viciously until she watched the show. Ron said it should be obvious to anyone watching the show that their relationship had no chance.
This is only the second time a team we liked has won since we started watching in the second season. We're told that a likeable team won the first season, so I suppose three nice teams have won out of seven races, which isn't a terrible record, but that's four wasted seasons.
Also, the eighth season will feature teams of four, which will be all kinds of confusing if the same number of teams are used. My condolences to the editors.
The more I think about it, the more I think the whole show is "scripted". Things like letting them on the plane, the "random" cop pulling over rob and amber, the flat tire, etc. Marnie and I watched the last episode of last season and most of this season and a lot of things seemed rather "random".
While many "reality", "reality game" "how-to-reality", and "docu-reality" shows are scripted to certain degrees, this one has been hard to pin down in the past. I certainly believe the presence of cameras and producers influence the effect racers can have. (U&J's begging seemed to be scripted as they were never seen talking about the contest.) Perhaps the 10:00AM flight to Miami was already "tweaked" by the producers just in case racers were able to make it.
By the way, Evan, I was able to pull off what U&J did on my flight from Dallas to Norfolk for the second First Contact playtest. When I arrived at the gate, the plane was pulling away, but they insisted on bringing it back and reconnecting the walkway. Those first few steps into the plane were uncomfortable. I happened to be in the first row in the coach section, so I was in my seat in twenty seconds.
Ah, but the most likeable team from season one didn't win. Kevin and Drew. Look 'em up if you can. They were awesome. Two bald, fat, NY guys who called each other knucklehead all the time. I woulda pegged em for first ones out, but they made it to the final four.
The real note from season one is that the most hated team didn't win, and anyone would have seemed nice by comparison.
I should note that I believe that the host of the Amazing Race is the best in Reality TV, behind only the retired Anderson Cooper. The AR's host's way of displaying restrained glee at the pain of the contestants, the fakeouts at the finish line ("However, this leg is not an elimination leg.") is the best defined in the genre.
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